September 9, 2026
Every time I come across, "And foolish men regarded Him as a mortal," in connection with the incarnation of God, I am reminded of Gurudev. How foolish we were to regard You as just a mortal man and not to see that You were 'adorable Lord of Mercy and Love', clothed in the semblance of a human being, out of that very Mercy and Love, so that we could see You, touch You and serve You.The human mind superimposes human qualities on the divine. So, we saw in you our own human nature reflected; we saw that You were also eating, walking, talking, smiling, frowning and working like us. How few of us had the insight and intuition to look beyond these and realise Your divine glory.
Lord Krishna, it is said, playfully held the Govardhana hill up for several days. And you, Lord, held the heavier burden of a world-wide organisation and bore the responsibility for your disciples' sins of omission and commission with positive delight. To pick up 'dropouts', failures, destitutes and vagrants and to mould them into saintly sadhakas, was a miracle that bewilders even siddhas. Your Love was the alchemy which won all by its immeasurable and inexhaustible power to transmute.
When we Your children erred or did something that disappointed You or that was displeasing to You, what mercy and compassion shone in Your sorrowful but all the same beautiful eyes. On a few occasions You could have been impatient. As impatience stirred in You, something stirred in us and we were alerted. If You had been patient even then, we would have been irretrievably lost. On rare occasions, You put on the expression of anger. You became a pillar of fire. That fire consumed our foolishness, our complacency and our small pride. If the disciple had to go, it was the sacrifice of Sati; even that disciple, purged of all dross, returned to You sooner or later.
While You lived, apparently like a human being, You had nothing to call Your own, You did nothing for yourself, You had no self, because You were (and are) the self of all beings. Hence You were Love. Neither love nor compassion can be understood, if one had not seen them in You. Your love flowed to all, human and subhuman, sentient and insentient. Even when You asked us to do something, Your voice was soft, loving, pleasing and pleading. When You walked, Your Feet loved the earth. Your touch was a caress even to the fountain-pen, spectacle case and walking stick. To You there was nothing other than Your Self. We called You Gurudev or Swami Sivananda. We sang Your glories, much to Your amusement. But only You know Who You are.